Kenning Partner Laurie Waller speaks with Mike Merrill about leadership versatility, a trait she has found to be especially important for collaboration and effectiveness. Leaders with versatility have a kind of multilingual fluency: they are better able to adapt to stakeholders both inside and outside the organization and meet the needs of a particular person in a specific context.  Laurie explains how the Birkman Method is an especially useful assessment for executives and teams looking to deepen their leadership versatility. Offering insights on four important dimensions – motivation, self-perception, social perception, and mindset – the Birkman can help colleagues adapt in ways that suit their teammates best. Finally, Laurie suggests some simple ways that anyone can develop greater leadership versatility.

Kenning Associates Partner Mark Ledden has worked with many coaching clients on problematic behaviors.  Speaking with Michael Merrill, he focuses specifically on behaviors where you know you have a problem, but cannot seem to fix it.  You may even exhibit the “ideal” behavior in other–typically less pressured–situations.   Mark provides 4 steps for remedying the problem behavior.  First, you need to identify the triggering cues:  where, when, and what sets you off.  Secondly, you must notice your habitual response in the moment.  Thirdly, you devise a clearly articulated alternative ready when the behavior happens.  Finally, you speed up the cycle of noticing the behavior and replacing it with the preferred alternative.   Mark explains how you can effect this change both on your own, but perhaps even more effectively with outside help, namely a coach.  Finally, Mark discusses the value of mindfulness practice and describes how he works to help people not only improve their professional outcomes, but also generally to reduce some of the stress, even fear in their lives.     Reach out: Mark: [email protected] Mike: [email protected]

Kenning Associates Partner Daryl Ogden talks with Mike Merrill about the 4 types of new jobs that he commonly encounters in his coaching practice, and how those finding themselves in transitions to these new roles can best navigate the challenges that await them.     The first three are moves internal to a company:  moving laterally within a large organization; being promoted, often to lead the team you were once part of; and switching from a creative or managerial role to an executive one.  Finally, Daryl discusses the particular circumstance that attend being hired to an external company.   Daryl explains that in all these cases curiosity and subsequent reflection are your best tools to make sense of your experience.  “Grow big ears,” he says, learn as much as you can and reflect on what you are learning, on your own and, importantly, with others.  By doing so, you can find a way not only to succeed personally, but also to align yourself with the organization’s values and strategies, adding your voice to theirs, harmoniously.   To contact Daryl: [email protected]  Or Mike:  [email protected]

In June of 2020, when it was clear that it would be a year like no other, Kenning Partner Mark Ledden started a conversation with his friend and mentor Barry Jentz. Barry, the founder of Learning & Leadership, Inc., is a coach, leadership consultant, and author of the book Talk Sense. Over the course of his 50-year career, Barry has explored the way our brains are hardwired to treat people as if they are problems. As a result, even seasoned, talented people can become locked into simplistic black-and-white thinking when under stress. The good news is that it is possible to cultivate a more complex mindset, and the transformation begins with recognizing discrepancies. In this ten-minute excerpt, Barry talks about what discrepant moments are, how he became interested in them, and how they can serve as a gateway for growth. He also explains why he insists on video recording the people he works with.   To contact Barry https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-jentz-8531989 Or Mark [email protected]

Mike Merrill talks with Kenning Partner Jerry Stauduhar about what Kenning has learned over the past year or so about best practices for virtual training.  Jerry talks about how Kenning adapted to the new Zoom realities, and some of the major lessons they learned in the process: Deliver your content in small bites; mix up the modalities you work in; and lean into the performance, especially with your voice.  Jerry finishes up by explaining some of the benefits to virtual training, and explores the future of the virtual and hybrid training models.   Contact Jerry: [email protected] Or Mike: [email protected]

Kenning Partners Jennifer Lachance and Cathy Boeckmann discuss how you can get the most out of your end of year review.  They first look at two common but not ideal reflex reactions to feedback in reviews:  “Not Me” and “All Me”. Since neither of these stances engage much with what you are hearing, Jen suggests a different one:  “Let’s Talk”.  Here you approach the feedback with curiosity: you try to truly understand what your reviewer is telling you, and you work to integrate it into your understanding.  Jen delineates the power of this approach before, during, and after the review.  And she explains how using it at review time can have positive after effects throughout the coming year. Reach out to [email protected] or [email protected]

In this introduction to the new "Knowing Kenning" podcast, Kenning Associates' Managing Partner Cathy Boeckmann talks with Mike about the purposes of and plans for the new podcast.    Contact [email protected]  or [email protected]